A Must-Know Guide To Corporate Event Planning

Building lasting relationships is said to be vital to a business’s success. Solid relationships with your clients and audience, employees, vendors, and partners are what allow your company to thrive and grow. 

One way to create meaningful business connections and relationships is through corporate events. Whether you’re holding an internal event for your employees or suppliers or want to get the word out to customers about your brand, a corporate event is a creative way for placing people together to network and forge relationships.

That said, planning a corporate event can be daunting. It’ll require serious attention to detail and excellent organizational skills to ensure that the corporate event goes off without a hitch. Below are some key tips on how to plan for a successful corporate event. Keep reading to learn more. 

1. Identify Your Goals

The first step in planning a corporate event is determining your goals and objectives. Ask yourself, ‘why am I hosting an event?’ You should also consider what you expect from it–whether it’s to engage your employees or generate awareness of a new product. Once you’ve identified your expectations and goals, you can easily determine the type of event to host. 

2. Determine The Budget

Hosting a corporate event will cost you. Thus, you need to know how much money you can afford to determine the kind of event you can produce. 

Depending on your business’s funds, determine how much you can spend and always plan on spending at least 10% more of the original budget. This should give your budget some breathing room and allow you to manage unexpected expenses as they arise. 

3. Find The Right Space

Once you’ve determined your goals and budget, you can start looking for a venue. Numerous factors influence your choice including capacity, location, budget, and availability. 

You can do a simple web search to find local venues that appeal to you. Send your event requirements and request written proposals. Make sure to do this early in your event planning process, as the most sought-after and best venues are usually booked in advance. 

You can also try consulting event experts to help find the right space for your corporate event. For instance, if you’re hosting an event in Australia and looking for sizable venue hiring options, multiple local companies and listings can help find the right space for your needs. 

4. Who Are Your Guests

A corporate event is nothing without guests. It’s important to define your target audience since it directly impacts the type of event you’ll host and other aspects. Is it your business’s executives and management? Are you hosting an event for your business partners or employees? Or is it for your potential or loyal customers? Maybe it’s a combination of these audiences? 

Determining your target audience allows you to cater the program to their interests and needs. So, make sure to understand them better to plan for an event that will create a significant impact on the guest experience. 

5. Think Of The Logistics And Engagement Aspect Of The Event

Hosting a corporate event doesn’t end in finding the right venue. You also need to identify and hire all the necessary event specialists, including printers, photographers, audio-visual technicians, caterers, florists and decorators, security personnel, and more. 

Further, you need to book presenters and keynote speakers, including prominent figures, influencers, or industry experts. Other than these, you also need to plan on how to keep attendees engaged. People tend to get bored easily regardless of how extravagant your event space or how inspiring a guest speaker is. Thus, you want to provide variety to keep them interested. 

Using the right event technology tool should help keep guests engaged. Plus, make sure to create a balance between keeping attendees within the program while giving them some freedom in their schedule. Don’t jam-pack their schedule and provide leeway in the itinerary to deal with unexpected occurrences. 

You should plan for conference break times as well to provide your audience alone time to recharge, process what they’re learning, and connect with other guests. 

6. Plan For Promotion

People can’t attend your event if they don’t know about it. So, you need to find and implement marketing strategies to get the word out. 

For small events with a small guest list, sending out invitations should do the trick. Nonetheless, for larger corporate events, you’ll need more than just an invitation. 

Fortunately, there’s a variety of digital promotional methods to generate attendance. You can promote your business’s event by emailing your database, adding your event to industry directories and listings, investing in ads, or posting it on your social media account. 

Takeaway

Although it can be costly, businesses are hosting corporate events simply because it works. Whether you’re a start-up company vying for customer attention or a large enterprise wanting to engage employees and partners, corporate events can break down barriers within your company, ushering you to the next level of growth.